Cotton-picker.



I. MEIER.

COTTON PIOKER.

APPLICATION 111,31) NOV. 27, 1911.

Patented July 1 6, 1912.

3' SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES. I 1 INVENTOR MM V1 96 Mezen J. MEIER. COTTON PlOKER, APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27, 1911.

1 32,560. PatentedJuly-16, 1912.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

4 I I ATTORNEY- J. MEIER.

COTTON PIOKER. urmongon FILED NOV. 27, 1911.

1,032,560 Patented July 16, 19.12.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

ran STATES NT OFFICE JOHN MEIER, or DE KALIB, TEXAS.

QOTTON-IPIGKER.

Specification of Letters man.

Patented July 16, 1912.

Application filed November 27, 191 Serial No. 662,581.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MEIER, a'citizen of the United States, residing at De Kalb, in the county of Bowie and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton-Pickers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in cotton pickers. Its object is to provide a cotton'picker that will be adapted .to operate simultaneously on several rows ofcotton and will not damage the applied tothe plan through adjustable pipe; having enlarged inlets, each pipe being .ontrolled by an operator, who will apply a the inlet thereof to the bolls.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide a gripping mechanism correlated with the lnlet of each of said pipes, saidmechanlsm comprismgpivoted fingers, which by manipulation of the operator may be made togrip a boll of cotton, making it possible for the operator to thus assist the suction in removing the boll from the plant.

Other objects of the invention lie in the provision of lightly constructed receptacle,

5 having rollers upon its bottom and mountedupon the machine to receive the cotton, as it is ejected from the aforesaid fan, and in the provision of a swivel mounting for the main fan. inlet pipe by which the same may be swung to either side of. the machine.

Finally the object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described that will be strong durable, simple and ellicient and comparatively easy to construct, and also one that will not be likely to get out of working order. lVith these and various other objects in view my invention has relation to certain novel features of the construction and operation, an example of which is described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of the completei cotton picker, showing all of the parts thereof in operative assembly. Fig. 2 is a view of the machine in side elevation,t-his member,

view being particularly adapted to show the tI'aIISIIHSSIOII of power from a suitable engine to the fan. Fig. 3 is a dotailview, showing the sw'ivelmounting provided for the inner extremity of the main inlet pipe of the fan,

said mounting making it possible to swing the pipe to either side of the machine; Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view ofa cup shaped one of which forms a suction inlet for each of the' pipes which branch from the main inlet pipe of the fan, a manually operated mechanism being shown correlated .with said member for assisting the suction;

in removing a cotton boll from its stem. Fig. 5 is another view of the same as seen from above when in operative position. Fig. 6 is a detail View in partial section,

showing a telescopic joiut'enlployed to se- .cureextensibility in the length of the branch pipes which'connect with the main inlet pipe of the fan. 1 Referring now more particularly to the drawings,- wherein like reference characters designate similar parts in all the figures, the numeral 1 denotes a four-wheeled truck which carries upon its rear portion a large.

crate 2 formed of wooden slats or some other light material. 'In order to facilitatethe loading or unloading of the crate, the same is provided upon its under side with several rollers 3, extending transversely of the crate.

Upon the forward portionfo'f the truck, there is erected a scaffolding, consisting of a platform :4, surmounted upon four posts 5. The scaffolding carries a suction fan 6, to which fan rotation may be communicated through" a pair of pulleys? and abelt 8, from an internal combustion engine 9, mounted. upon the forward extremity of the truck just in front of the scaffolding. Beneath the scaffolding is located a cylindrical tank 10 'containing the water to be circulated in the usual manner about the engine cylinder to cool the same. The fan outlet communicates with a pipe 11, which extends a short distance .rcarwardly above the crate 2 and is then provided with an elbow making a quarter turn downward. A sleeve 12 of canvas or some other suitable fabric depends from the outlet of said elbow, its lower end extending'into the. upper'poi'tion of the crate.

The inlet of the fan, which is provided at the rear lower portion thereof, commun cates with an elbow 13 forming'a quarter 110 turn downward. The elbow 13v communicates through a, swivel jOixit-fwith an up turned quarter turn elbow provided uponthe inner end of a'horizontal pipe 14 which is gradually reduced in diameter from its inner to"i'ts' outer end The:pipe 14 is adapted to he swung about the swivel bearing formed at its nner end and is normally disposed transverse with the wagon at "either side thereof. .,The outer extremity of the I pipe M- issupportedby'a wire 15 extending from; said. ext emity to a post 16, ,two of which are provided onjthe platform 4 one at each side thereot. -A bra'cerod 17 is also pro-"1 vided to steady. the pipe .lt 'an'd hold 'it to.

- a; positiontransverSe 'withthe truck, this :brace' rodbeing extended from the o'utjerext-remity of said pipe to one of two posts 18 mounted-at the rear corners-of the truck. The pipe 14 has, a' pluralityjof' inlets, one of which'has'the form of an elbow 19 making a quarter"turn downward at the. end' of the pipe; The other-inlets of which therewill preferably be two, communicating; with the under 'sideofthe pipe 14, are designated by the numeral- 20 and are spaced from each other andftrom the: elbow T19,

adistance' equal to that between the rows of cotton, A shortxfiexible sleeve 21, preterably ofleather, is fitted 'ti htly' over each of the outlets 19 and 20 an the other end 'otv'each, sleeve 21 has airtight-"communication with, ayer'tically suspended pipe 22. The flexible-connection formed-by the sleeve 21 makes it possible toiswing the pipe 22 atan angle with the vertica'l'in any direction,

the necessity tor'this freedom of motion'being later made clear. Within .the lower portion of each pipe 22, is slidably fitted the upper portion of a slightly smaller pipe 23, -a. telescopic pipe joint thus being formed,

adapted to, permitadjustment in the com-.

bined length of the two pipes. The joint is made air tight by providing the. bottom of the pipe 22 with a flange 24 and providing upon the pipe 23 a sliding collar or washer '25, which is riveted to said flange, a packing ring 26 being clamped between the parts 24.

a'nd'25, as is shown in Fig. 6. Upon the lower extremity of each pipe 23', an inverted cup 27 is secured, said cup being provided with a neck portion 2S fitting t-ight'within the correlated pipe, and riveted or otherwise provided. a plurality of equidistant slots- 29, extending from the rim to the middle secured thereto. The diameters otthe cups 27 will be slightlyg'reater than that of the pipes with which they are associated and the rims of the cups will curveslightly-inward as is clearly shown in Fig. 4-. The interiordiameter of the cups will be reduced to form the necks thereof in a gradual curve soas. to otter no interior surface against which the picked cotton may lodge. In the cylindrical wall of each cup 27, there are:

portion of the cup, parallel to the axis of the'latter. Into each slot 29. there pro ects 1 close "areshghtly {curved and form angles of'approximately 5 degreeswith a diameternf the colla'r passing ,through'their center points; 'One'iend of each slot'32 therefore terminates adjacent to the, central aperture of the collar- (which end normally received .o'ne eithevfinger extremities) and the other o the rimthereot'. It is obvious there-.

fore that the extremities. of the fingers 30 which rest in'the slots-32vmaygbe outwardly.

or inwardly displaced bysubjecting the collar 33 to, a slightrotation thereby causing the finger-extremities to travel from one end .Of said'slots to theother. The possible rotation of the: collar is limited-by screws passing throughslots 34 in the collar and .fixedin' the shoulder portion of the oorrelated' cup,'-each slot having the-form of a short circular-arc; A small concave" disk 35, projecting rigidly from the collar and perpendicular to .the same, forms a thumb rest by theuse of which the o'peratohmay necessary to actuate the rear ends of the fingers outwardly. When'the operator re-' moves his thumb tr'om the'disk 35, the same will'be automatically rotated to its normal position through'the operation of a'spring 36 which encircles the pipe 23 adjacentt-o the collar, one of its extremities beingfixed in said pipe and the other being extended contiguous with the collar and tangent with t1; pipe :andbeing made to bear against a pin 37 carried by the collar near its rim, Whena rotation is manually 'communieated to the collar, in thedirection of the arrow,

the spring 36 is distorted and-ittherefore -produces a reverse rotationof thecollar' when manual pressure upon the thumb rest ceases.

From theupturned elbow at the inner end of the pipe 14 a pipe 38 extends forwardly, passing beneaththe platform 4t and projecting some distance in- 'tront of the truck.

The forward end of said pipe is provided with a downwardly turned elbdw, with which are correlated parts 22, 23- & 28 similar to those already described,

The above explanationof the construction of thecotton picker will ;serve also to ex plain the main features ofthe'operation'to "those familiar with the art. The two part extensible pip'es, eachof which is suspended between two 'ot-the rows are'intended to be .rha'n'ually' subject the collarto the'ro'tation eachhandled by an operator, who will grasp the lower ext-remity't ofl the extensible pipe adjacent to the cup 2T-,: a'nd will apply the mouth of said cup tothe ripened cotton bolls, thus causing the bolls to be pulled from their stems and drawn into the pipes by suction due to the fan. In case thissuction alone is not sufficient to remove the boll fronrthe stem, the operator will merely have to exert a slight pressure on the thumbrest 35 to cause the boll to be gripped by the fingers 30, thus making it possible to pull the boll loose with said fingers.

The travel of the machine along the rows will be sufiiciently slow to permit the operators toremove' all the cotton from the plants 1 as they walk along beside the machine.

1 -The means employed to'propel the machine through the cotton field will be to some-extent dependent upon the size of the machine itself. Ina very large machine intended to simultaneously work upon a onsiderable number of'rows, it will be adrate the same later.

.-visable to drive the machine from the explosive engine carried by the truck. In the case of a smaller and less expensive machine, however, horses or mules may be employed to produce the necessary traction.

- The above described system of operation eliminates the disadvantage existing in almost every machine vyet devised for this purpose of picking green cotton bolls as well as the ripe ones, and also the objectiom. able feature of gathering leaves and trash with the cotton, making it necessary to sepa- For the operation of the machine shown in the drawings five men will be necessary one of Whom will drive the machine and 0p erate the engine', three will operate the sue tion tubes suspended from the tapering pipe 14, and one who will operate the suction tube suspended in front of'the truck.

Galvanized sheet metal to be preferred as the material for constructing the various pipes Whichform partof the machine, but 7 the construction need not of course be limited to such material,

The invention. is presented as including all such changes and modifications as come within the scope of the following claims.

lVhat I claim is':

1. A suction tube mouth piece for a pneu- Y matic cotton picker-comprising a cup hav-. ing an aperture in. its bottom communicating with the suction tube, a neck shaped portion extending therefrom and projecting into the tube, a pluralityof fingerspivotally mounted upon the exterior of the cup'having their outer, ends projecting through slots in the cup wall-, which slots extend inwardly from the cup rim, and a collar rotatably mounted upon the neck portion of the cup and provided with a plurality of slots each :receiving the inner end of one of the-said fingers, the slots. being so shaped that the fingers may be rocked on their pivots through rotation of said collar; U

2. A'suction tube mouth pie'cefor a pneu matic .cotton pickercomprising acup having ed. upon the, exterior of the cup having their outer ends proiecting through slots in the cup wall, said s ots being extended inwardly from the cup rim, a collar'rotatably mount .ed upon the neck, portion of the cup, said an aperture in its bottom communicating with the suction tube, a neck shaped portion extending therefrom and-projecting into the I tube, a plurality of fingers pivotally mount 

